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GIGs Katrina Piano Fund Benefit GIGs LI Blues Challenge GIGs Marco Conelli / String Alley GIGs Hank Stone GIGs Bad Religion GIGs Reel Big Fish / The Tossers HANK STONE’S “ROUGH FOLK” CD RELEASE PARTY by Russ Rogers 
It was a special night at the Good ol’ Pisces Café. The Hank Stone Fans were there to celebrate the release of Hank Stone’s Debut CD “Rough Folk”. This long awaited CD from Hank is a culmination of material he has been working on for quite a few years. Those in Attendance were the very first to get their hands on the CD. After hearing it myself I can tell you, “Rough Folk” has been well worth the wait. It’s a beautiful CD that spans the depth of Hank’s songwriting and his finger-style guitar prowess. Gathered amongst the audience were several of the areas finest musicians who joined him on a few of his most well know songs. In house was the producer and featured musician on the CD, Tony DeStefano otherwise known for his singing and fantastic guitar work with his band “Too Hip For The Room”. Tony provides all of the other instruments you hear on “Rough Folk” aside from Hanks Vocals, Guitar and Harp (Harmonica). Kicking into “I am not blind” Tony Stepped up for Bass duties and continued on through Hank’s ode to Bob Marley “Ghost of the Lion” and a song dedicated to John Lennon “John The Weather’s Fine”. Mark Loebl of Vitamin D fame, took over the bass chair for “Red” and then on to one of my personal favorites, a song about a dog called “Topeka”. On this tune Hank and Mark were joined by guitarist Todd Evans, Tony DeStefano on guitar and Rich Spohn on percussion. Hank’s Harp, Vocals and guitar playing were in top notch form the entire night. Hank took a break and turned the Mic over to Tony DeStefano who played a few solo numbers with Hank joining in on Harp. When Hank returned, the folks were treated to “Sailors Haven” and “Black Christmas” (a song about the dismal life of a coal worker) Todd Evans was invited back up to lead to ensemble into a wonderful version of “Old Cowhand” which now added fiddler and songwriter Lora Kendall to the stage. With this augmented line up they steamed full speed ahead into the classic “Muhlenberg County” The fine fiddle work from Lora complemented the set nicely. The show didn’t stop there. They kept moving forward with “Wild horses” and into Hank Stones summertime anthem “Come Play”, as much a children’s song, it’s meaning brings a reminder to us “older children” to have some fun once in a while. With a closer of “Ugly Duckling” the crowd wanted at least one more, joining Hank and Co. on stage was none other than Howling’ Hughes himself for a rousing version of “Alien anal probe blues”. The Pisces Café is rapidly becoming “The” place for CD release parties amongst Songwriters. Its intimate atmosphere and great food is a perfect match. While I enjoyed Hank’s sets, I thoroughly enjoyed a plate of their “BBQ Nachos”. Get Hank’s New CD “Rough Folk”.| Visit www.hankstone.net or www.cosmicfunnybone.com and also be sure to visit www.piscescafe.net to get the latest music calendar and specials. (TOP OF PAGE BAD RELIGION TWENTY PLUS YEARS OF POLITICAL PUNK ROCK by Punk Rock Pete photo by Sean Murphy  After having to cancel a show that was to take place at the old Vanderbilt nearly a year and a half ago, Bad Religion brought their twenty plus years of political punk rock to Mulcahy's in Wantagh on Tuesday night, November 22nd. Since they do not have a "new" album to promote, they treated the packed house to a sort of "greatest hits" type gig. New drummer Brooks Wackerman pounded out the beat as veterans Greg Graffin (lead vocals), Jay Bentley ( bass ), Greg Hetson (guitar), and Brian Baker (guitar) provided the thunderous opening number "Sinister Rouge." The crowd immediately was in a frenzy. The Mulcahy's bouncers however were not as pleased. Since this venue rarely hosts a gig of this type, it seemed like they had no clue what to expect. In their efforts to make sure the slam-dancing was under control, they actually made things worse by pushing people repeatedly. By the time the boys from Orange County, California launched into a few of their earlier hardcore classics such as "No Control," "You,"and "Change Of Ideas," the entire place was one giant mosh pit of pogoing and flailing humanity. The set also featured Bad Religion's classics "Recipe For Hate," "American Jesus," "21st Century Digital Boy," "Infected,"The Gray Race," "Los Angeles Is Burning," and "Supersonic." The only tunes that seemed to be omitted during the set were anything off the two discs "New America," and "No Substance." The highlight of the night musically was their sped-up version of "Come Join Us," a tongue-in-cheek take on cults and religion. Is there really a difference? After 70 minutes of non-stop fury the band left the stage. Upon their return they pummeled the crowd with a four-song encore that included a solid version of "The Defense" and "Sorrow", both from the CD "The Process Of Belief." Overall the show was amazing. A truly solid effort by a band that knows how to please their fans. We should see a new album from them in mid-2006 and then hopefully a tour that includes another stop on Long Island. Pittsburgh politipunks Anti-Flag opened the show. Although they only played for 35 minutes, their set was strong. They actually got the partisan Bad Religion crowd into it by closing with two strong tunes off their most recent CD "The Terror State." The song "Turncoat," a song about our ridiculous president, was especially loved by all in the crowd. Overall, it was a great night!! See you all next month when I review The Unseen at Ritual. Until then..... PUNK ROCK ROOOOOOOOOOLLLLZZZZZ!!!!!!! (TOP OF PAGE REEL BIG FISH and THE TOSSERS at the Crazy Donkey by Mike Ferrari This was a fun show at the Crazy Donkey! I got there as the local openers had already finished but my partners in crime Punk Rock Pete and Adam Kramer reported that they were good and how surprised they were to see the audience receive them so enthusiastically. Well whatever was in the air that night was contagious because that audience was into everything thrown at them on this night.  The
Tossers kind of remind me of if the Pogues and the Mighty Bosstones
would sound like if they had a band baby. Mixing traditional Celtic
fiddle, flute and mandolin with rocked up acoustic guitars, drums
and electric bass this band had the crowd on it’s feet and singing
along for their entire set. My favorite song they did was their raucous,
“No Loot, No Booze, No Fun”, while the crowd clearly goaded
them into playing some kind of oi!oi!oi! song, everyone seemed to
love it. The Tossers maintained an incredible level of energy throughout
their set and the audience was right there with them the whole time. Reel
Big Fish have been doing their ska thing for quite some time, and
have a number of radio singles to show for their history.Their set started out a bit slow but a few songs in they had picked up their momentum. Their new CD is “We’re Not Happy If You’re Not Happy” to which they played some cuts from as well as their older songs. One of the new tunes is actually a cover of Morrisey’s, “We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful” done in their typical ska fashion. I’m not quite sure if I liked it but the “A-ha ha-ha-ha’s” now certainly have a little more sneer than before. They also did a cover of A-HA’s “Take On Me” which actually benefitted nicely from the ska treatment. Of course the band pulled out RBF gems like “Give It To You” off the first CD and the “Beer” song which supposedly was the last time it was ever going to be played (well, maybe in New York anyways...). For the encores the pulled out the big hits “Sell Out” and “She Has A Girlfriend Now”. (TOP OF PAGE THE EMERALDS / THE PORTUGAL JAPAN THE PHENOMENAUTS / PEELANDER-Z Knitting Factory 11/5/05 by JT One of the great things about living relatively close to the center of the universe that is New York City is that eventually every band in the world will play there. So it is that when I found out the talented ladies of the Portugal Japan from the Sazanami Label were coming to town, I knew that I must make the pilgrimage to NYC or wait until I can afford the plane fare to Tokyo, which of course will be a long, long time. I first heard the Portugal Japan when I picked up a Sazanami Label compilation disc, the label specializes 60's mod/garage revival, PJ was one of the stand outs. It has been awhile since I ventured into the big city, when did the whole town turn into a giant chain store shopping mall?  By the time that I made it to the Knitting Factory the Emeralds were wrapping things up on what I could tell from my brief view and the audience reaction was killer set. The Emeralds have a hard rock'in early 80's new wave-pop vibe. I picked up both of their cd offerings, to check out later, hope to catch the whole show next time.  Next
up was the Portugal Japan, decked out Ramones style black leather
and blue jeans, the girls put the rage back into garage rock, playing
a short but thrilling set. They did a few synchronized hair metal
rock god stage poses and bass Sayuri had the classic punk move of
staring out vacantly while ripping thru a tune down pat. Lead Vocals
and guitar Fukiko looked like something out of the movie, the Grudge
(or was it the Ring?), with her long black hair covering her face,
while howling out a covers like, "Kick Out The Jams" and
"Have Love Will Travel". She is a force of nature on stage,
reminiscent of a young Joan Jett. Their original song, Black Jacket
is a sonic speedball, grade A bubble gum punk. While
waiting in the crowd for the next band to take the stage I noticed
some folks dress up in rocket scientist gear, kids today, first its
gangster rap style, then its rocket scientist. Since I follow mostly
foreign and or girl bands, the next band was a complete surprise to
me, the only non Asian band on roster, the Phenomenauts. Try to take
this in, a very elaborate mix of Devo, Russian retro futuristic design,
rockability songs about space and science, all wrapped up in a worthy
of a vegas review stage show. Over the top lighting, smoke fx, a giant
earth shaped balloon, space cadet uniforms and toilet paper shooter
were just a few of their props, but none of them would have worked
had it not been for the Phenomenauts obviously highly talented music
ability and stage presences. The lead guitar and vocals (sorry not
sure if was Corporal JoeBot or Commander Angel Nova) has a bit of
a Kirk/Elvis swagger to him. It was a long set with alot of precision
stage moves and the crowd really seemed into it, kudos to all. Finally,
late, late in the evening/ very early in the morning the infamous
Peelander -Zee went on, they are closest thing to true anarchy that
you will ever see on stage. For those unaware, Peelander Zee is a
live action anime punk band, meaning they dress up in home made, primary
color costumes ala the power rangers, sing fun songs with some props
and alot of fan interaction. Peelander Red keeps the beat on bass.
Peelander Blue is the masked wrestler/ drummer. On guitar, Peelander
Yellow did all the talking, albeit in broken english, wrangling fans
to do his bidding. Audience participation is a major part of this
show and not just in singing along. Peelander-Zee has their lovely
assistant Peelander Pink pass out instruments (from tambourines to
pots and pans) to fans for the fans to play along onstage. After a
few rousing numbers including Mad Tiger and Medium Rare (how does
New York like it's steak?) several outrageous onstage antics, Peelander-Zee
closed by pulling Fukkio from the Portugal Japan, her support drummer
and an innocent bystander/bass player out of the audience and on to
the stage to fill in while the Peelanders had a game of human bowling.
I am sure that there is some kind of health code violation involving
regular sized human bowling. When the Peelanders made it back to the
stage, Fukkio who had really cut loose, stage dived into the frenzied
crowd.When it was all over and the dust had settled, I spoke briefly to one of Peelander's regular show goers, he told me that he had seen them dozens of times with crowds as a small as 4 people and that the Peelanders performed at the same intensity for all. Catch them when you can. (TOP OF PAGE TABLE OF CONTENTS |
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